In my last two articles (available here and here), I covered a collection of tips and suggestions aimed at helping mid-level bowlers—defined as those who average between 165 and 190—take their games to the next level.
This month, we’ll continue the series by covering three additional areas of interest for intermediate-level bowlers: avoiding the “chicken wing” release and follow through, being yourself, and making moves. Let’s get started!
The chicken wing
Before we define the infamous chicken wing, let’s back up a bit to discuss a potential cause of this error for mid-level players. Many beginning to intermediate bowlers I work with hurt their own cause by making one huge but easily corrected error: they are too far from their target.
Let’s use our favorite hypothetical bowler, Jasper, as an example. Jasper always wants to stand in the center of the approach, with the tip of his slide shoe on board 20 (the center of the approach, better known to some as “the big dot in the middle”). He walks a straight path to the foul line, so he also slides on board 20. So far, so good. But what is he aiming at? The first arrow—the 5 board!
Talk about an impossible situation. Finishing at 20 and trying to hit 5? Think about this for a moment. When a ball passes a bowler’s slide foot at the release, the center of that ball should be roughly seven boards away from the tip of the slide shoe. If the target is board 5, and the bowler walks a straight path to the foul line, he’ll need to start and finish his approach with the tip of that shoe ...
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Image Credits: Torn paper illustration (©iStock.com/barbaliss) and bowling pins illustration (©iStock.com/dvarg) are licensed for use by BTM and are the copyrighted property of their original creators.
